WP8.1 and Here Drive battery drain

[astondg]

So then....is it the "charge only" aspect that fixed it, or the shift from 28 to 22AWG that did it?

I bought a Tikbro 24 AWG cable to use with my Nokia Lumia 920 and a 2.1A car charger but that also couldn't keep up with the drain from Here Drive+. I thought it was a charge only cable when I bought it but I need to confirm that it isn't actually a charge & data cable because that could be the problem. My point though is that just being 24 AWG isn't enough.

Tikbro Micro USB Charging Data Cable FOR Samsung Galaxy S4 S3 Mini Nokia HTC M8 | eBay

EDIT: I just plugged it into my computer and it looks like it's charge & data, so that answers that question. I need to find another, data only, cable.

 

[beachedwhale42]

Weird. It's like the phone checks the cable, not the charger. ThinkGeek said their charger would spoof being charge-only :-(

 

[RevoMikey101]

I think that's exactly what it does. The phone or pc reads the cable for data flow. If there isn't data flow it allows full speed charging. The portapow cables are charge only which is effectively a "dumb" cable allowing full bore charging.

 

[beachedwhale42]

That's so dumb. Who cares about the cable when there's nothing on the other end? Guess I still need to order one of those...

Did this problem exist on WP8 as well? Like, is this a new thing with 8.1 that maybe the Cyan firmware will update?

 

[RevoMikey101]

I agree. I asked my IT department in work and they had never heard of this issue with micro usb.

I am not sure if I had this issue with wp8 to be honest. If I did it certainly wasn't as bad. Either way I drove today with here drive for about 30 minutes and it actually charged from 90% to 100%. This portapow cable has definitely cured the problem.

 

[hairychad]

PortaPow is the cure... Also had the benefit of being able to charge via the USB socket at work without being promoted of security violations.

Note, the issue existed in WP8 and is not new in WP8.1.

 

[RevoMikey101]

I do seem to remember a trip to center parcs in January and the trip left my battery low but i didn't think anything of it. I think it must have existed in wp8 too.

 

[beachedwhale42]

Well that's good. I have nothing against charge-only cables, and it's probably a good idea anyways, but it's just frustrating since my current setup worked on my Galaxy Nexus. I try and show off the Lumia whenever I can (people take notice of a shiny red non-iPhone/Android), but stuff like this just makes it harder to convince people that it's able to compete head-to-head.

 

[trwrt]

Shorting the data pins together tells the phone it's on AC power and to draw as much current as it wants. If you've got a 2.1A charger that should be fine as it's the equivalent of charging your battery from 0->100 in about an hour which the phone would never ask for, so plenty of overhead. I've heard there are other ways for the charger to communicate to the phone how much current it's able to source but I've never actually witnessed it work with any of my (oddball) assortment of phones, maybe it's just an iPhone thing or something.

 

[realwarder]

Shorting the data pins together tells the phone it's on AC power and to draw as much current as it wants. If you've got a 2.1A charger that should be fine as it's the equivalent of charging your battery from 0->100 in about an hour which the phone would never ask for, so plenty of overhead. I've heard there are other ways for the charger to communicate to the phone how much current it's able to source but I've never actually witnessed it work with any of my (oddball) assortment of phones, maybe it's just an iPhone thing or something.

There are about 8 different methods used to indicate a high powered charger is attached, but the shorted data pins is the most universal.

 

[hairychad]

8.1 update 1 will give us the option...

 

[eepyaich]

Did this problem exist on WP8 as well? Like, is this a new thing with 8.1 that maybe the Cyan firmware will update?

I'm pretty certain I've always had this problem. Cyan just gives the phone the chance to tell us the charger it's going slowly...

I'm awaiting the arrival of a portaPow cable today and hope this will finally allow me to charge the phone while driving!

 

[hairychad]

It won't be cyan, it'll be Update 1 next week...
WP8.1 Update brings USB condom feature

you've not wasted money on the PortaPow cable as it's a faster charge still (apparently) and if you've got the cable it means you don't need to go to the settings.. but with Update 1 you'll get the option to to in and alter this so it may fix the issue

 

[eepyaich]

I got the PortaPow today and it certainly seems to do the job, which will be great as I've got a long journey on Monday (before, I'll be able to install Update 1)!

 

[beachedwhale42]

Looks like Update is going live today. I'll give it a shot tonight if I can and see if it will do charge-only mode in the car (AND give me a full amp). I'm doubtful since there's no connection on the other end (my Galaxy Nexus showed AC connection instead of USB despite the slow charging), but we'll see.

 

[beachedwhale42]

Updated to 8.1 Update 1 DP. That USB condom isn't in there :'(

Edit: Maybe it's only available with Cyan FW and 8.1+?

 

[RevoMikey101]

Crap update really. You can put your tiles into folders but that's about it. Waste of 30 minutes.

 

[beachedwhale42]

Seems about right. I still haven't seen the IE updates yet. Nothing feels worse, so that's good, and I like the fact that I can get updates (unlike where I was on Android). Sounds like I still need to buy a cable.

 

[RevoMikey101]

The cable is worth it. I am sick of crap updates with WP though. I have 4 months left of this crap os and i am leaving WP behind for ever. I resented having to wait for basic things like separate volume controls, rotation lock and the USB condom. The WP os shouldn't have been released without this basic stuff. ms are just sh1t.

 

[beachedwhale42]

Most updates have been useful. A few haven't, but at least they haven't made things worse (I'm looking at you Android 4.3). At least WP 8.1 is now (mostly) on par with iOS and Android....I no longer feel like I'm missing things.